Archive for
January, 2010

Phil Martino, a Pittsburgh commercial builder, has been a NUCOR Dealer/Contractor for 15 years. NUCOR http://tr.im/QZ4qis the largest steel recycler in North America
Last year Nucor recycled a quantity of scrap steel in excess of 20 million tons. Nucor’s steel making processes have much lower emissions than integrated steel making operations. Nucor’s energy consumption per ton of steel produced is much lower than that of integrated mills(source- Nucor website) . Phil Martino (PCM Inc) is able to offer “turn-key” Construction operations from engineering to final Interior Design. PCM Inc. works with Concrete Zen to offer Decorative Concrete Solutions for flooring, counters, sinks, panels and wall treatments.

LVL Beams and New Floor Framing support & stabilize shift in bearing from the removal of certain truss systems. The area above this living space was reinforced and decked for a new storage area. The ceilings in both areas are 7’10″ each after the 2″x10″ floor deck was raised above the ceiling framing below. This was a totally unusable space! The truss system spanned over 16′ of ceiling. All of the 2″x4″ ‘s cut out were stored for re-use in our workshop. Natural Stone tile in the Bath & Mahogany Floors will be a smooth design after this renovation is complete.- Photo: Rich stands in the area that will be the new 3rd level Full Bathroom… -Nicole Santella

According to an article from RenewableEnergySources.com, PPG Industries (based in Pittsburgh, PA) and Prism Solar Technologies (of New York) have partnered for a project to “test the performance of different types of glass… to determine an increase in energy yield.” The two entities will combine attributes of their respective glass surface coatings and then deduce whether or not there is an increase in “energy yield”.

A solar cell is a device that converts the energy of sunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.

There are incentives for renewable energy at the residential and commercial level. The “Maximum Incentive” for residents and commercial photovoltaic costs is 35% of installed costs.-DSIRE(Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.)Table 3.2 Annual Photovoltaic Domestic Shipments between 1998 and 2007- from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, shows that there were 15,069 photovoltaic units shipped in 1998. In 2007 there were 886,193 pv units shipped. This proves that solar power use is increasing; becoming more attractive to our pocket books; and is moving towards greater efficiency.-EE